I'm posting this in the public section as I would like any active witness with children to think about this carefully.
For those of you who haven't seen it yet, this is the picture in question :
(Source : http://www.jw.org/assets/m/ijw13fr/502013170/ijw13fr_id-502013170_E/502013170_E_cnt_1.pdf )
I showed this picture to my therapist today along with the dot-to-dot of King Solomon with the baby about to be cut in two, My Book of Bible Stories and Mankind's Search for God book page 11.
She explained that the above picture and others dealing with death is a clear case of child abuse - on the same level as a child being sexually abused. These were her words, not mine.
This is how she explained it :
As a child develops, he creates the capacity to take on new ideas, new concepts and the like. Just as he or she will only start to lose their baby teeth when the big tooth is already in place to replace it (else he would be in trouble), he or she will reach an age when he or she is ready to approach the concept of death. Death is a terrible thing for a child and by introducing it to him or her when so young can be very traumatic. He or she has no capacity or fallback to deal with that trauma or the fear or terror that it creates in his or her mind. And that's when the Society comes in to impress their own teachings - create the terror to make them believe certain things while they are still at a vulnerable age.
Whether we agree with it or not, that is what is happening when we expose our children to these pictures.
It should never happen.
It IS child abuse.
I know, even now, there are pictures in the Bible Story book and the one I mentioned above in the Search book that I still hate to look at.
Now I understand why.
I was exposed to them at an age when I was not ready to take them in.
You parents still active, please think carefully about what you are really exposing your kids to.
Thank you for reading.